Nose tackle Louis Nix remains a popular choice, but five others are matched with San Diego in recent mock drafts.

Let's start with Nix and why Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com links him to San Diego.

"With Cam Thomas signing with the Steelers," Brugler writes, "San Diego can add some depth in the middle of their defensive line. Not sure they'll anticipate Nix still being on the board, but if he is, the pick would make sense."

Nix goes to the Cowboys (16th) in Will Brinson's latest mock, also for CBSSports.com -- with the Chargers plucking TCU's Jason Verrett, who is a "a physical corner with excellent closing speed and a willing and able tackler who can also blitz from the corner spot effectively."

The Verrett-Chargers partnership is foreseen in Mike Tanier's write-up at SportsonEarth.com, and Tanier slaps the dreaded "need" label to the selection. "Verrett is a little overvalued in this slot but a need pick," he writes. "He is NFL game ready, relatively solid in man or zone coverage and has some big-play capability, which the Chargers secondary really needs."

Two of Tanier's colleagues see different choices for the Bolts come May 8.

Dan Pompei predicts tight end Jace Amaro will go to San Diego at 25. "The Chargers could use some help on defense, but it might be tough to pass up a potential successor to Antonio Gates," he writes.

(I like Amaro. I doubt he'd be the best player available but embrace the "BPA" philosophy. Too, the last Texas Tech player the Chargers drafted, Louis Vasquez, not only turned out to be the best Chargers draftee of 2009 but one of the better players of the whole '09 draft. OK. I'd be surprised, shocked, actually, if the Chargers took Amaro 25th. In Ladarius Green, 23, they have a potential successor to Gates.)

Russ Lande is a former Rams and Browns scout who envisions an edge rusher, Kyle Van Noy, going to the Chargers 25th. "The Chargers shocked many by making the playoffs with defense that lacked a consistent pass rush," Lande writes, also for SoE. "In the coming season, Melvin Ingram will be a force, and drafting Van Noy to play outside linebacker opposite him should give the Chargers two explosive edge pass rushers to start the season."